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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23783515">Tears To Shed</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrucioAndCoffee/pseuds/CrucioAndCoffee'>CrucioAndCoffee</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Sun In Her Smile, If She Ever Smiled [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, F/F, Nightmare, Post-First War with Voldemort, Regret</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 21:27:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,183</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23783515</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrucioAndCoffee/pseuds/CrucioAndCoffee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The single tear she sheds crystallizes as ice on her skin. It is the last tear Bellatrix ever cries.</p><p>If her heart is still beating, it might as well be dead, because there's nothing left to break.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alecto Carrow/Bellatrix Black Lestrange</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Sun In Her Smile, If She Ever Smiled [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1445938</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Tears To Shed</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A soft glow of orange tints the morning sun's rays. Bellatrix's eyes flutter and focus until that blur of color refines into strands of luscious red hair and bare peachy skin. She traces a finger up the sublime creature's spine and in lazy circles across her shoulder. Sleep still weighs Bellatrix's eyes and limbs as the two lay fitted together perfectly in bed. Soft snores of her lover fill the dark room, and she counts the breaths from Alecto.</p><p>Smooth pale skin, silky on the fingers, but divine on the lips, tempts Bellatrix with a siren song of sensation. She presses a kiss to Alecto's shoulder and hooks an arm over her waist. The faintest line of sanguine red—a color hand-picked for Bellatrix by Alecto to match the leather straps for special nights—smudges across and marks her flesh. Closer and closer, she sneaks to Alecto's neck. </p><p>"Hm?" Came a quiet hum. Alecto pats Bellatrix's cheek. "Good morning to you too, love."</p><p>Shuffling of Bellatrix shifting around shakes the bed, and it's sheets pool to her hips, exposing her to the cold air. "Good indeed," Bellatrix says, biting her lip and throwing Alecto a heavy-lidded gaze. </p><p>A playful pout forms on Alecto's lips and a wicked smile curves their edges. "Now pet—" she taps Bellatrix's nose rather condescending— "we're here to watch a child, not make one."</p><p>"Why not both?"</p><p>A chuckle belts in the air along with an eye roll from Alecto. "Cissy hates me enough, and I do not need her to be any louder about that." Her expression softens into a somber one. "She suspects us. She knows we're not just friends. I can tell."</p><p>Bellatrix cups Alecto's cheek and kisses her forehead, purposefully smearing more of her fading lipstick. "But I love you. And I don't care anymore who knows."</p><p>"Bellatrix Black not caring what others think? What world have I woken up in?" The quiet hollow laugh that escapes Alecto stings the skin it touches, down into the deepest parts of Bellatrix's body. Her lips find Bellatrix's in a teasing, biting, and inviting kiss. "I love you too. I just wish I could flaunt it about like Lucius does his money."</p><p>She pulls Bellatrix so close their skin presses hot against each other. Warm flush hits her cheeks, as Alecto has her tight in her grasp. Though small, her fingers, her grip, prints and melds into Bellatrix's hips. She couldn't escape. And not like she wanted to.</p><p>"But I don't think Narcissa would appreciate her niece or nephew being conceived in her bed, now would she?" Alecto whispers, husky, seductive, and with the charm of a creature so dangerous, Bellatrix cannot resist the succubi tones.</p><p>"What Narcissa doesn't know..."</p><p>"That's a good girl," Alecto whispers into Bellatrix's ear.</p><p>The world blurs as there is only Alecto, her touches, kisses, and time means nothing. Just her. </p><p>Bellatrix nuzzles her head into Alecto's shoulder and sighs—though questioning how she ended up in the parlor fully clothed. The little devil of her nephew is stomach down on the floor, scribbling away at doodles, and analyzing parchment Alecto gave him. Draco bites his lip with concentration as he focuses. A small smile creeps on Bellatrix's lips. </p><p>Nothing is strange besides how she arrived. Alecto must have truly had her so high on sensational ecstasy with that tongue of hers that reality took second place. The little devil is too young to understand the relationship she has with Alecto, and it only prompts Bellatrix's impulse to throw caution away. With the parlor so quiet, besides the irritating scratching of quill to paper and the cracklings of a fireplace, Bellatrix laces her fingers with Alecto's. Her eyes catch Alecto's shimmering in the firelight. Warmth radiates about her, and nothing could be more perfect. </p><p>This bliss, oh how Bellatrix wishes to bottle it up and drink it like fine wine. Age it until she dies. To share it with Alecto. </p><p>"So, what troublesome things are you teaching him now? Narcissa wasn't too pleased about you teaching Draco to call Lucy a bitch boy. No matter how true."</p><p>Alecto's chuckle vibrates in her chest, and Bellatrix closes her eyes, just listening to her voice and essence. So sweet, haughty, beautifully cruel in ways it should be impossible, but instead makes Bellatrix hot beneath the skin and her blighted heart beat with life.</p><p>"Draco—" Alecto swishes her wand, and a family portrait flies into her hands— "who is this?" </p><p>Bellatrix shifts to see where Alecto's finger points. It's settled nicely on Lucius' pompous figure. </p><p>Draco perks up and smiles wide. He is only two and still has bright wonder-filled eyes. His answer splits the seams of Bellatrix's ribs with laughter.</p><p>"Cunt!"</p><p>"Excellent Draco. Don't forget to say it in front of your mummy."</p><p>Bellatrix presses a kiss to Alecto's jaw. "This is why Narcissa hates you."</p><p>"But, it's why you love me, right darling?"</p><p>With a flamboyant flick of her wrist, Bellatrix drawls a teasing, "Chaos incarnate? The light to my Black heart? A perfect marriage of mischief and cruelty. Whatever gave it away?"</p><p>The somberness of the morning hours blankets Alecto's voice once more, dampening it's brightness into bland grey. "If only," Alecto whispered. "I wish we—"</p><p>"I'd say yes. No—better—I will say yes."</p><p>Alecto turns, wide-eyed, but the blue to them dulling. Her mouth agape. "If only we had the chance, Bella."</p><p>"But we do! We avoided joining that war—"</p><p>The room drops to freezing, and gooseflesh ripples upon her skin. Alecto's silky warmth leaves and is replaced with icy lifelessness—like metal. </p><p>"We don't. We threw that chance away."</p><p>Bellatrix's forearm burns against the cold, and fire seizes up her clammy taut muscles. The precious blood in her veins freezes and wastes away. It binds her movement as reality fades away. Her voice won't work. She can't grab to keep Alecto close despite the desperate need to. Bellatrix tries to claw at the air to keep Alecto close, near, in view, but the darkness rips her away—swallows her like it swallows Bellatrix.</p><p>Her lungs burn, but she can't grasp a breath. The chill on her skin is damp, so maybe she is drowning in the darkness.</p><p>She shuts her eyes and clenches her teeth. Her throat clogs with a suppressed roar of pain. "I threw it away," she chokes. </p><p>Her eyes open to her stone grey prison cell, and the metal chains binding her to its wall. The dark black venomous ink of a tattoo squirms on her forearm and writhes with her insides. The single tear she sheds crystallizes as ice on her skin. It is the last tear Bellatrix ever cries.</p><p>If her heart is still beating, it might as well be dead, because there's nothing left to break.</p><hr/><p>A scream rings from Azkaban that night. It echoes over the waters of the raging North Sea. It rings as thunder over London and haunts the streets near a certain redhead's flat—waking her with a confusing sense of dread like a loved one's passing in the night.</p>
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